Torii school

The Torii school (鳥居派, -ha) was a school of ukiyo-e painting and printing founded in Edo. The primary producers of kabuki theater signboards and other promotional materials, the Torii were among those whose work led to the development of ukiyo-e. Their style was one of the primary influences in the ukiyo-e depiction of actors and kabuki scenes for much of the 18th century. Still today, kabuki signboards are sometimes painted by members of the Torii family.

The Torii style truly emerged with Torii Kiyonobu I, who came to Edo in 1687. The Torii family had already been active in the kabuki world, in Osaka, for several generations at this point. He studied under Yoshida Hanbei and Hishikawa Moronobu, and brought a kabuki sensibility to their artistic styles. Moronobu's work was already dramatic and energetic, but Kiyonobu added to this with a further emphasis on action, and on the types of poses (see mie) and aesthetics one would see on the kabuki stage. For many years, Kiyonobu and his actor father Torii Kiyomoto produced primarily theater signboards, book illustrations, and promotional materials for the theaters.

It was not until 1700 that the Torii began to create full-size paintings and prints that could be interpreted as independent works of art. Of course, many still depicted actors and the kabuki world, and could therefore be construed as serving as promotional materials. But by this time Kiyonobu, and his successor Torii Kiyonobu II, were also producing paintings and prints of courtesans, erotic scenes, and sumo.

Even as the Torii school expanded, and began to produce works in the increasingly popular form of paintings and prints, the core purpose of the clan remained the production of billboards, posters, and other theatrical works. As such, Kiyonobu, and the heads of the clan after him, worked primarily on these types of works, leaving relatively few paintings and prints.

Torii Kiyomasu, and his successors, would represent something of a departure from the theatrical and energetic core style of the Torii school. Taking Sugimura Jihei as a role model, rather than Moronobu, Kiyomasu produced works far softer, more delicate and graceful than those of many other Torii artists. Nevertheless, it is interesting that many works by these other artists, who produced more dramatic works in Kiyonobu's style, are signed "Kiyomasu".

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Wikipedia